WBU partners with TDCJ in online degrees

Published 8:14 am, Saturday, August 1, 2015

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Wayland Baptist University is partnering with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to offer online educational opportunities to some 30,000 hazardous duty officers throughout the Texas prison system.

Dr. Claude Lusk, vice president for enrollment management at Wayland Baptist University, used the quarterly meeting of the Plainview/Hale County Economic Development Corporation on Friday to explain the program.

The Bachelor of Applied Science program is a 124-hour degree that allows individuals to apply previous technical and vocational training and work experience as credit toward a liberal arts degree for career advancement. A variety of majors are available, depending on career experience or future goals.

Scholarships, Lusk noted, are available to TDCJ employees in positions classified as “hazardous duties,” and will be applied to student accounts to cover post-aid tuition, fees and book costs of up to $1,000 per 11-week term.

“TDCJ employees will now be able to earn associate, bachelor and master’s degrees from Wayland online, all with scholarship opportunities,” Lusk said. TDCJ is allowing Wayland representatives to market the online degree programs outside the gates of prison units throughout the state.

“Our online educational opportunities are ideal for the crazy schedules many of these corrections officers are working,” Lusk said, “and Wayland is quickly being recognized throughout the state for its online programs.”

Lusk noted that 2,800 students are now taking online courses through Wayland, and there is great potential for further growth. “Just like Plainview is getting a reputation as the hub for wind energy development, people know where Wayland Baptist University. We are getting calls from all over the state about our online programs.”

As part of his community report on Wayland, Lusk told PHCEDC members that among the new programs at Wayland is a doctorate program in management, and a master’s degree in criminal justice is in the works. He noted that work has started on the Jimmy Dean Museum, with completion expected in April 2016. Also, a search committee has been named to seek a successor for WBU President Dr. Paul Armes, who will retire next year.

Wayland, Lusk added, is ranked by the Wall Street Journal as fourth in the country among private universities for return on investment. That ranking is based on the cost of obtaining a degree verses graduates’ salaries five years after graduation. Wayland also is on the list for most affordable online bachelor‘s in nursing degree programs in the country.

Wayland student athletes will be returning to campus this week, Lusk noted, with new students moving in Aug. 14. Classes for the fall term begin Aug. 19. “During the last few years, enrollment at Wayland and many school have been waning, but we had strong registration this summer and it looks like the decline has bottomed out,” Lusk said.

Don Thurman, representing Texas Workforce, said the current unemployment rate stands at 7 percent. That’s an increase due primarily to seasonal factors associated with the end of school. “It should come back down once schools get back into session,” he said.

About 200 former Cargill workers are still involved in training programs, Thurman reported.

Stripes Convenience Store plans to set up a jobs fair to staff the new local store, which is a replica of the company’s largest store in Lubbock. Workforce also assisted the new 806 Pizza House to staff its restaurant. A jobs fair was held Friday at the Floyd County Friends Center in Muncy for a wind energy project in Floyd County, and Texas Workforce is working to set up additional job fairs as similar projects begin construction.

Linda Morris, executive director of the Plainview Chamber of Commerce, reported that more than 500 attended the Plainview High All-School Reunion, which her organization co-hosted. “We had 390 preregister and another 120 walk-ins, and it was very successful.” She added that the Chamber was able to raise $12,000 to pay for this year’s community fireworks show.

The Chamber is currently accepting registrations for the 32nd Leadership Plainview class, with eight positions remaining. Registration deadline is Aug. 21.

Once again this year, the Chamber and City of Plainview will partner to bring free training for local businesses. This year the sessions will be held Oct. 1-2 and will focus on media marketing. The Chamber also will participate in the upcoming Cowboy Days and Hale on Wheels Bike Ride. It will also partner with the Crime Stoppers to stage its Freedom Fun Color Run.

Reporting on new businesses, Morris said the new automated laundromat on West Fifth Street will be opening soon, as will the new Stripes convenience store which will have 40 employees, including 10-15 fulltime workers. Stripes also will join the Chamber’s parade of fiberglass cows.

Wendy’s restaurant could be opening within the next 30 days, she noted, after the property was purchased by the Wendy’s franchise owner in Hobbs, N.M. The Staples building, she added, is also under contract.

Paul Henderson, representing South Plains College Plainview, thanked PHCEDC directors for a $22,000 Economic Development Incentive Grant awarded in April. Those funds were used to purchase 12 Allen Bradley programmable logic controllers, which already are being used to train students. “We have had a company bring 10 employees from out of town to Plainview for training on the PLCs, and even more will be coming here in the future. In fact, Plainview has been designated as a growth place for the college.”

He noted that the region as well as the rest of the country is experiencing a critical shortage in new teachers. A recent educational jobs fair, he said, attracted only two newly graduated English teachers to visit with representatives from 28 school districts seeking to fill vacant positions.

“And the problem isn’t limited to public schools,” he added, noting that much of the current teaching staff at both South Plains College and Amarillo College will soon be eligible for retirement. He added that a decline in enrollment experienced by many colleges and universities in recent years seems to be improving with student numbers up at SPC-Plainview during both spring and summer sessions.

“Our welding program is full, and we will be implementing an automotive program in partnership with the Plainview school system this fall at the Norman Goen Building.” It will initially be a certificate program, due to limited space, but should grow into a degree program. Additional technology programs are in the works, he added, including a diesel mechanics program.

Mayor Wendell Dunlap reported that the newly opened skate park is already finding heavy use, with it and all city parks in general looking wonderful. “We will continue to see how we can beef up the availability of activities for kids.”

The recent citywide cleanup effort was successful, Dunlap said, adding that he hopes the beautification efforts will continue as residents make their city more attractive to visitors and business prospects.

A free smartphone app for both iPhones and Androids is now available. Titled Plainview, TX - My Community, it allows users to check city announcements, use the CodeRED network, pay city utility bills and notify the city about areas with unsightly weeds, code enforcement infractions and even potholes. Users should receive a speedy response to action requests.

While work is continuing on the 2016 budget, Dunlap said the city will likely ask for a small tax increase to help reduce a budget deficit, along with an increase for waste water treatment. However, the increase will likely represent only a $5 per month increase for a residence valued at $100,000.

Leslie Hackett, representing Covenant Health Plainview, reported that work on the hospital’s $40 million expansion program is now under way with construction crews moving in and beginning to break out sidewalks. She briefly reviewed the ongoing physician recruiting efforts and well as the hospital’s capital campaign efforts, which the Herald reported on Thursday.

In his report, Mike Fox, PHCEDC executive director, noted that he is currently working with three different prospects concerning the former Jimmy Dean Meat Company location.

One existing company needs about 20,000 square-feet of the 40,000 square-foot structure for the distribution of safety equipment, bags, shrink wrap and food chemical additives. Total number of employees was not available.

Another out-of-state firm is seeking to relocate its manufacturing and distribution center. Fox said Plainview is in that company’s Top 5 finalists as it narrows its selection process. The company expects to invest $2 million in capital, and employ 30 initially and as many as 100 at its peak.

The third prospect is an existing dairy-related company that mixes and distributes food chemicals for dairies. The number of employees it could bring to Plainview is unknown at this time.

Fox also has met with a site selection group representing a large agricultural company looking to expand its operation. Although it continues to investigate other locations, if it comes to Plainview the company is expected to invest more than $100 million and employ 50.

The PHCEDC’s new jobs incentive program is designed to reward industrial prospects for bringing jobs to Plainview, based on pay scale.

Companies could receive up to $3,000 over five years for each position paying $30,000-$39,999 per year. That increases to $10,000 for each position paying at least $75,000. No incentives would be paid for jobs paying under $30,000, since the current per capital average salary for Plainview is approximately $28,000.

The incentive application, Fox notes, is a simple two-page document, and the incentive matrix itself is not complicated.

Fox added that the TTS rail yard has received two of 26 expected train loads of wind turbine components anticipated to arrive in the next month. Those components will be used for a wind energy project in Roosevelt County, New Mexico. He added that TTS was recently purchased by BNSF Logistics, but operations and leadership are not expected to change in the immediate future.